London Olympics quarter-finalist P Kashyap eked out a hard-fought victory over Chinese qualifier Huan Gao to enter the second round, on a reasonably good day for the Indian shuttlers, at the Li Ning China Masters badminton tournament in Changzhou, on Wednesday.
The eighth-seeded Kashyap, a Commonwealth Games bronze-medallist, staved off a stiff challenge from Gao to prevail 21-13, 14-21, 21-19 in 78 minutes.
Kashyap will meet compatriot R M V Gurusaiutt, who endured an equally tough time before beating Malaysia's Muhammad Hafiz Hashim 21-18, 19-21, 21-13 in exactly 60 minutes.
Ajay Jayaram scored an upset victory, beating third-seeded Japanese Kenichi Tago 21-13, 21-17 to set up a second-round clash with Singapore's Zi Liang Derek Wong.
Sourabh Verma also made his way into the next round after rallying to beat Malaysia's Daren Liew 9-21, 21-17, 21-12 in a little over 60 minutes.
P V Sindhu, the lone Indian in the fray in the women's singles, also made a fine start, sailing past the United States' Jamie Subandhi 21-15, 21-12.
Sindhu has a tough second round match against eighth-seeded Thai Porntip Buranaprasertsuk.
Among the Indians who disappointed were Anand Pawar, who lost 17-21, 12-21 to second-seeded Chinese Jin Chen in 43 minutes.
In the men's doubles, Tarun Kona and Arun Vishnu let slip the advantage of winning the first game and lost 21-18, 12-21, 19-21 to the Danish pair of Rasmus Bonde and Mads Conrad-Petersen, while Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar lost 11-21, 21-17, 18-21 to the Thai team of Patiphat Chalardchaleam and Nipitphon Puangpuapech in 52 minutes.
